How Social Media Can Ruin Your Personal Injury Claim

bIt’s 2016, social media is essential to our everyday lives.  As much as we enjoy its benefits, such as keeping up with family and friends, real-time news updates, and promotional uses, there are certainly a few downfalls to the potential exposure you may face by putting your personal life on social media.  It is important to keep in mind who your audience may be prior to posting.  Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media outlet, the information you post is available for others to see, often times including an unintended audience. 

As we’ve seen over the past few years, insurance companies and defense counsel are searching the social media accounts of personal injury plaintiffs in order to deflate their allegations and attack their credibility.  Please consider the following tips to help ensure that you do not inadvertently post something that will damage your chances for success: 

Avoid Posting about Your Accident and Injuries

The only way to truly remain private on social media is to avoid it all together.  Since that is not always an option, the next best thing would be to limit your accident related posts.  Keep in mind that anything you post could be considered a statement by you in your personal injury proceeding.  You may not think that what you are saying is a big deal, but even the smallest details can be submitted into evidence or fashioned into an argument that may hurt your case.  It is best to avoid posting about your claim. You can read here and understand what goes behind getting legal aid in case of accident related injuries.

Be Wary of Outside Comments

Over one billion people actively use Facebook, most of which use it carelessly.  Your friends and family may comment on a photo of you, thinking their message is harmless, saying something like: “You look great. What accident?” or “Sure… you look real hurt!”  These types of comments may lead defense counsel to question the validity of your alleged injuries.  We recommend you edit your privacy settings so that anything being posted to your profile must be approved by you first. 

Review Old Posts – Do Some Spring Cleaning

It is worth spending some extra time reviewing old photos and posts to see if anything from your past could negatively affect your claim.  You want to come across as the innocent injury victim – leaving no material for defense counsel to use to attack your credibility. 

Hire an Experienced Lawyer

Lars S. Hyberg, Esq., of Hyberg, White & Mann, has over 35 years of experience and success handling family law cases and personal injury claims.  He and his staff will work directly with you from start to finish in order to produce the best possible outcome in your claim.  At any time during your claim, you can feel free to discuss any concerns you have about social media posts that may compromise your case or what to do if the wrong person does catch something they should not have. Visit www.hwmlaw.com or call (609) 407-1000 for your free consultation today.